EAGLE

Eagle [Orbital ATK]

EAGLE (ESPA Augmented Geostationary Laboratory Experiment) is an experimental satellite built by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and is flown via the STP (Space Test Program).

AFRL ordered the Eagle-bus from Orbital in 2012. It consists of a ESPA adapter fitted with a propulsion module and Moog Broad Reach avionics, software and GPS receiver.

EAGLE will host at least five STP-sponsored payloads. It can support payloads up to a weight of 1086 kg for a mission of at least one year.

Following payloads are manifestd on EAGLE - three of them deployable:

• HTI-SpX (Hypertemporal Imaging Space Experiment) provided by Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV) is to help to improve the understanding of hypertemporal imaging, which involves blending images taken of different spots on the Earth in several different spectral wavelengths at regular intervals over time.
• Mycroft (deployable)
• CEASE-III-RR (Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor III Risk Reduction) payload
• ISAL (Inverse Synthetic Aperture Ladar) to provide high resolution images which are not limited in resolution by the diffraction limit of the telescope collecting the imaging data. This makes it an ideal method for imaging Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) space objects
• ARMOR (AFRL-1201 Resilient Spacecraft Bus Development Experiment) (deployable ?)

EAGLE was launched in 2018 as a secondary payload on the AFSPC 11 mission on an Atlas-5(551)¹ rocket. Soon after reaching its orbit above the geostationary belt, it deployed three subsatellites (Mycroft and two unidentified, USA 286 and USA 287).